Many of those who study English are faced with the problem of the times. There are only three tenses in Russian: present, past and future. For English, this list is 4 times longer. How to determine what to put in the sentence - is or are, where these forms come from and why they are needed, we will examine further.
The purpose of the verb connectives
In Russian, we often omit the “is” particle, simply meaning it. For instance:
The English version of the presentation sounds literally like this:
Also, in a conversation we often disrupt the word order or make sentences that include only one word. For example, like this:
English does not have the flexibility of the Russian language and is very demanding on the word order in the sentence. Bundled verbs, such as is or are, are used to communicate the subject with other members of the sentence.
You cannot swap members of a sentence. For example, take the sentence:
In English, it looks like this:
- You are beautifull (that is, literally: you are beautiful) .
But how to figure out is or are put in a sentence? And where did these verb forms come from?
Where did the ligaments come from?
With the appointment it’s clear. But where did these verb forms come from? How to determine when what form to put - is or has , for example, and what does it depend on? These are nothing but the forms of the main English verb to be . In translation, its meaning is “to be,” “to be,” “to be.” The form to be depends on the time used in the sentence. For each time it is different.
Present simple
The simplest of the existing times of the English language. It denotes an action that occurs constantly, every day. To build such a sentence, the forms of the verb to be - am, is or are are used and the particles do / does . How to understand where to use which particle? When the dialogue is about representing oneself or others, the verb to be - are, is or am form is used , depending on the number and person.
The first person, singular is the pronoun "I" ( I ). The particle am is used for him and only for him. You are the second person pronoun ( you ). The particle are are used for it. They also speak with her about the plural - we, you, they ( we, you, they ).
For the third person, the pronouns he, she, it ( he, she or she ), the auxiliary verb is is used . What can be attributed to it ? Everything that is not animate. These include qualities or conditions. For example, like this:
- It is raining now. - It's raining now .
It applies to animals too. But you can never use it in relation to people.
If you want to tell that some action is performed daily, you will need the verb do, or does for a third party. Only in this case it will not act as an auxiliary verb-bunch, but used as a semantic verb. For instance:
- I go to school every day, exept Sundays. “I go to school every day except Sunday.”
Please note: the days of the week and the names of the months in English are capitalized.
- Rick comes to me every weekend - Rick comes to me every weekend .
To the predicate, the ending -s was added. At this time, the first form of the verb is used to express the action. Only for third parties is the ending -s added to it :
- My name is Ann. I'm 24 years old. - My name is Anna. I am 24 years old.
Also, am, is or are used to voice the profession and say where you came from:
- I'm student. - I am a student.
- I'm from London - I'm from London .
Building negation in the present tense
All proposals reviewed were in the affirmative. But how to build an interrogative form, and what auxiliary verbs to use here - does or is ? To construct an interrogative or negative sentence, which indicates the constancy of action, the verb to be in the form do / does is used, depending on the number. Does used for third party. In other cases, do is used.
When constructing an interrogative sentence, the auxiliary verb do or does is placed first in front of the subject, the rest remains unchanged. If does is used, then the - s particle is not used for the verb, since it went to the auxiliary verb do:
- Does Jane go to English school? “Does Jane go to an English school?”
When constructing a negative sentence, the scheme looks like this. First comes the subject, then the auxiliary verb do / does , and then the negation of not . You can build a short and more detailed answer form:
- No, she didn't. Jane did not go to English school, she learn German. - Not. Jane does not go to English school. She is learning German.
Real long time
Real long time - how is it? The English in their speech always pay attention to the moment of action. For example, an event in the past that happened a year ago differs in time from that of an action that was performed 20 minutes ago, and an unfinished action takes on a completely different meaning, which was started and should end after a certain period in the future. Although the Russian language is completely indifferent, the action ended 5 minutes ago, or several years have passed since its completion. Both that and another automatically belongs to the past.
Present Long Progressive or Present Progressive implies an action that is happening right now. In this case, am, is or are used in the same way as in the previous time. Only to the first form of the verb is the ending - ing added:
- What are you doing now? I'm reading magazine. - What are you doing now? I'm reading a magazine.
At the same time, it is clear that when constructing the question are, is or am is taken first, and everything else remains unchanged. When constructing a question, after the auxiliary verb the negation of not is put :
- I'm not working now. I'm speaking with my wife. - I do not work at the moment. I am talking with my wife.
The verb have / has
The verb to have, (for a third party - has ) is used in English to mean "have something," "have something." Acts as an auxiliary verb for the past . And since the endings - es, -ed are very common in English, several other forms - has and had were formed. Agree, it sounds much simpler and more harmonious.
We hope that the proposed material helped you understand the forms of the verb to be .